The present application relates generally to systems and methods of locating a particular object among many other similar and/or dissimilar objects, and more specifically to a system and method of locating a particular package, carton, skid, tote, or other item among many other similar and/or dissimilar items on a loading dock, in a warehouse, or in any other storage facility.
It is often difficult and time consuming to locate an individual package or other item in a storage facility when the package may be obscured at the bottom of a stack of packages or at the back of other items. For example, in the receiving area of a retail facility, especially where the size of the receiving area is restricted, a large volume of packages, cartons, skids, totes, and/or other items is received on a daily basis and accumulated in the receiving area and often in random fashion. For efficient distribution the items must be identified, segregated, and prioritized. Systems have been proposed for locating items by means of RFID tags that can be interrogated by a wireless signal, but such systems have been complex and/or uneconomical.
As an example of location problems, in a typical large discount store the receiving area may contain about 3,500 cartons in any given day. A typical chain drugstore may receive about 300 totes per day. Locating particular cartons or totes in such receiving areas is difficult and time consuming, especially in receiving areas that are of limited size.
As another example, shipping companies often arrange shipments on skids, which are located at a distribution center for loading onto trucks, other vehicles, or containers for shipment to various destinations. Finding particular skids intended for particular destinations is often difficult because of the number of skids present in a given location. This problem of finding “trapped freight” wastes a great deal of time in assembling shipments.